I had spent hours at the book store studying, were going to kill me. It was past my curfew. I could imagine the lecture now, them telling me about being responsible and listening to their guidance. As I walked to my car I noticed the parking lot was almost empty… almost, only one person left besides me was the strange looking cashier. It seemed as if he was eying me, trying to stare me down. It was making me nervous, he had been staring at me all night, increasingly I became aware that he was just standing there watching me. I needed to leave, quickly. But as I began to move towards my car, he began to approach me. He was reaching into his pocket, what could he be reaching for? did he have a weapon of some sort? Was he intent on stealing from me, or worse? I could never reach my car in time to get away. My only choice was to re enter the book store and stay among the crowd of people, surely he wouldn’t risk anything among the public.


As I entered the bookstore, I became increasingly aware of the worried expressions on peoples faces as they saw me frantically searching for an alternate escape, an exit of some sort. All I saw was the restroom sign, I stroked what little facial hair I had, considering if it would be a good idea to head to the bathroom to lie low, or to stay out in the open among people. I glanced back to the door, the strange man was walking in, looking for something, me possibly? I had no choice, I had to head to the back, to the restrooms. Hastily I made a move to the restrooms, in the process I knocked a large stack of books down, looking towards the commotions the man saw me. He started walking ever so calmly, just steadily heading in my direction, appearing to be in no hurry. I moved to get away just as a manager walked over. Looking livid she said, “Don’t just stand there, help me clean this up.” I was becoming more nervous as he approachend, more terrified, he was only a few steps away now.

“Excuse me, are you Mich Cambell?” he asked. Looking on in terror, I barely managed to squeak out, “Ye.. yes.” Again reaching into his pocket, he produced a brown leather wallet, nothing special. “Here, you left this on the counter earlier, I just wanted to return it.” He said, as he handed me the wallet. “Thanks.” I said. Wow, all that for nothing, I really need to stop drinking so much coffee, its making me paranoid. I was so embarrassed all I could do was stand there as he walked away. Making my way out to the car in a daze, I didn’t think about much at all on the way home. My only thought was, why had he waited until I was leaving to return my wallet? It was the last thought I had before something hit me and the world went dark.